A common fishing area in a lake is typically found near trees, wherein underwater tree branches and roots provide likely areas to find fish. However, conventional rigid arm anchors can become easily fouled within the trees. Retrieval of an anchor once it has become entangled is time consuming, and it is quite likely that the fisherman would be forced to cut the anchor line and thereby lose the anchor.
It is known in the prior art that anchors can be designed with a release feature which can be operated by the fisherman or boat operator. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,582 discloses an anchor having a tubular shank with an elongated control member which will pivot the flukes of the anchor between an extended position and a retracted position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,904 discloses a collapsible arm anchor with one or more arms hinged to a tubular shank which are pivotable between extended and retracted positions.
Many other patents also disclose anchors having selectively pivotable flukes, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,538, U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,207, U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,147, U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,024, U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,682, U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,712, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,596.
However, all of these anchors require mechanical pivoting or other actuation of the anchor flukes in order to operate. This increases the possibility of mechanical failure or other necessary repair.
Another problem with prior art releasable anchors is the expense associated with purchasing a relatively complex mechanical apparatus.